Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.53 on December 23rd

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.525 per share by the social networking company on Tuesday, December 23rd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th.

Meta Platforms has a payout ratio of 7.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Meta Platforms to earn $30.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.10 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.0%.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $8.48 on Friday, reaching $644.23. The company had a trading volume of 13,654,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,357,520. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $665.92 and a 200-day moving average of $706.78. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,959 shares of company stock worth $26,578,191. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.